The One
by Happy.BABE.Zsadist.Emmett
Summary: Brennan needs to figure out of Booth is the one for her. But they are both so damn stubborn... One-shot story. Not my usual area of FF. Story is several years old, just found it on my old laptop.


So this is a Fanfiction piece I wrote years ago and just found on my laptop. I never published it before so this is the first time. I don't usually write Bones fanfiction, so this is out of my element. I'm more of an SOA kind of girl, but I do love watching Bones.

This story is OLD...way before Booth/Brennan got together, so its not current, but I think true Bones/Brennan fans will still enjoy it.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

Dr. Temperance Brennan peeked over at her partner as they drove through the snowy night toward the crime scene. Ever since their near kiss at the party thrown by the Egyptian government, she had been having a bad case of what Angela would call the 'what-if's'. Bones had wondered what would have happened if they had kissed, would they still be Booth and Bones the crime solving duo? Or would they have evolved into Seeley and Tempe lovers and partners? Bones sighed and looked out the window as the snow fell harder and harder.

Booth heard Bones sigh and wanted to ask her what was going on but the weather was going to take all his attention and he was unable to ask. Booth knew Bones well enough to know that something was wrong. She had been unusually quite when they were together during the last couple months and he wanted to know what was bothering her.

Bone's cell phone rang and shattered the silence in the car.

"Dr. Brennan." She said.

Tempe smiled "Hello Andrew."

Booth's attention was drawn to the name of his boss's boss. _Was Bones still seeing him? _

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow." Bones hung up and put the phone away.

Booth cleared his throat, "So who was that?" he asked.

"Andrew."

"My boss's boss Assistant Director Andrew Hacker?"

"Yes."

"You're still seeing him?" Booth asked.

"Well we never really got to have our date, so I don't think 'seeing him' is the correct term, that would imply we had been seeing each other for a while. We are in fact going on our first dinner date."

Booth didn't respond to Bones. He didn't want her dating his boss's boss, not because he worried about the repercussions that would trickle down the chain of command to him when Bones tired of Andrew, but he didn't want anyone dating her, she was his. Only problem was that he was too chicken to tell her, he had tried once and when he told her he loved her he quickly added 'in an atta-girl sorta way'. Booth sighed and kept driving.

They pulled up to an abandoned warehouse in the worst neighborhood in DC. The cold quiet night was alive with police cars, whose lights were casting blue and red shadows on the snow.

"Why is this an FBI case?" Bones asked as she looked at the warehouse.

"The warehouse is technically owned by the Navy. They haven't used it in a decade and it's currently tied up in escrow, but it's still government property, so it's an FBI case."

"So where are my bones?" Bones asked as soon as she got out of the SUV.

"Inside." Booth said as he motioned for Bones to follow him.

They walked toward a large metal door defaced with spray paint and Booth pulled it open. The warehouse smelled like urine and stale wood, the scent was so overpowering that Booth covered his nose. "What is that smell?" he said.

Bones looked around, "Homeless people come into abandoned buildings for shelter and they defecate wherever they please."

"Well they need to start defecating outdoors." Booth said as they walked further into the dark building. Near the back they saw the bright lights that had been set up by the FBI technicians. A complete skeleton was tied to a chair, only a small amount of flesh was left.

Booth stood back and let Bones do her thing. He watched as she pulled her gloves on and approached the body, he also saw that two of the younger FBI technicians were ogling her. He threw them a cold glare that got them quickly moving on to their job.

"Booth." Bones called.

"Yeah." Booth said as he approached his crouching partner.

"Female, late 20's to early 30's, Caucasian."

"Anything else?" Booth asked as he noted her initial findings.

Brennan was silent for a second,

"Booth it looks like she was tortured before she was set on fire."

"Wait, tortured and then set on fire?" Booth asked.

This was not a gang-related killing like the cops thought; this was something else, something much uglier.

"Booth, she was still alive when she was set on fire." Bones said as she looked into Booth's eyes.

CHAPTER 2

"Sweetie I still can't believe that you are going on a date with Booth's boss's boss."

"What? Why not? Andrew is attractive, funny and he finds me sexually appealing." Brennan said as she touched up her make-up.

Brennan and Angela were in Brennan's office, Angela was sitting in one of the armchairs, arms crossed, glaring at Brennan who was standing in front of the mirror in her bathroom.

"Because it should be Booth." Angela said firmly.

Brennan put her lipstick down and turned. She looked at Angela and didn't say anything for a moment, choosing her words carefully.

"Ang, he doesn't…see me like that."

Angela's eyes widened, "What are you talking about Bren? Booth worships the ground you walk on! He would kill for you! He would die to keep you alive!"

Brennan shook her head, "I know but that doesn't mean that he finds me interesting in a romantic way."

Angela stared at her best friend, "For a genius, you can be very dumb sometimes."

"Why are you insulting me?"

"Booth loves you!" Angela said.

"No he doesn't." Brennan said with a tinge of anger in her voice as she replayed the night he had said just that.

"How do you know?" Angela challenged.

Brennan sighed, "Because he told me he loved me in an atta-girl sorta way. That is not a romantic type of attraction."

Angela was silent for a second, "He actually said that, 'in an atta-girl sorta way'?"

Brennan nodded and looked at her watch; Andrew would be here any moment.

Brennan grabbed her purse and made sure she had her keys and her phone, she even made sure she had a condom. She was a grown woman who had sexual urges that needed to be met and Andrew appeared to be more then qualified to meet them. She wasn't about to even mention to Angela that the possibility of sex was included in tonight's date. It was technically Andrew and Brennan's first date, but they had gone out for coffee three times and drinks twice. This was going to be their first dinner date, but it was more like their sixth date, sex was defiantly okay on the sixth date, right?

There was a knock on her office door, "Come in." Brennan called.

The door opened and Andrew stood there with a bouquet of wild flowers and a bouquet of roses.

"I wasn't sure what kind of flowers you liked." He said quickly.

Brennan smiled and leaned down to smell the flowers, "These are beautiful Andrew, thank you."

Andrew leaned down and kissed Tempe on the cheek softly.

"Angela could you put these in water for me?" Brennan asked as she held the flowers out.

Angela sighed and got up from her chair, "Sure Bren, but remember what I said."

Brennan ignored Angela's statement and took Andrew's elbow and walked out of the Jeffersonian with him.

Andrew took her to a great Cuban restaurant that had the best mojito's and an amazing Cuban band. Brennan was surprised to find that Andrew was a great dancer.

Andrew held the car door open for Brennan and she slid into his car.

Andrew got in next to her and started the engine.

"I had a great time Andrew."

"I had a lot of fun Tempe."

Andrew drove to Brennan's apartment and insisted on seeing her to her door, he was also hoping for a good night kiss.

At the door, Brennan had a hard time getting the key to work; finally she got it to cooperate.  
>"Well I had an amazing night Andrew." Brennan said as she stepped forward.<p>

"I did too." Andrew said as he leaned down to kiss her.

Brennan stopped him just before he got to her lips.

"Um…Andrew…would you like to come in?" Brennan asked

Andrew smiled and his eyes twinkled, "I would like that."

Brennan let him in and shut the door behind her.

CHAPTER 3

Brennan was the first one into work, as usual. She made her way to her office and was very surprised to see Booth sitting on her couch.

"Booth, what are you doing here?"

"I thought we could have breakfast." He said with a smile that was sexy and charming.

She looked at the coffee table and saw he had two large cups of coffee and her favorite breakfast, an egg-white omelet with peppers, cheese and mushrooms.

She smiled and took off her coat and joined Booth.

"What brought this on?" Brennan asked as she took the last bite of her breakfast.

Booth shrugged, "Just wanted to have breakfast with you."

"Well thank you for the food and the company." Brennan said as she stood and pulled her lab coat on.

"Did Angela get an ID on the body yet?" Booth asked.

"No there was a lot of damage to the skull, but I believe that I should be able to get it to her for identification by lunch time."

"Do you want to have lunch?" Booth asked.

"Sorry, I've got lunch plans already…with Andrew." Brennan said slowly.

Booth hid the disappointment well and nodded his head, "Okay."

Booth watched as Brennan walked toward the platform and used her card to access it. Booth did not like Brennan dating Andrew, not one bit.

Booth sat in his office fuming; it took every iota of restraint that he had learned as a Ranger to keep from throwing things and yelling like a child throwing a temper tantrum. He had come back from breakfast with Bones and had overheard Andrew's secretary telling another secretary 'Agent Hacker was in a _very_ good mood this morning when he came in, and you know what that means!'

Booth couldn't believe that Brennan would sleep with him on the first date, Brennan wasn't like that. He knew that she wasn't a virgin, but he had always held her in the deepest respect when it came to matters like this.

Hours later his cell phone rang and he flipped it open, "What?" he growled.

"Seeley Booth, you better not be yelling at me?" Angela said from the other end of the line.

"What do you want Angela?"

"I've go the ID for you."

"Who?"

"Megan Overton from a little town in Southeastern Oklahoma, age 31. I'm sending the picture to you now."

"Okay, thanks Ang."

"Booth what's wrong?"

Booth sighed, he did not want to talk to Angela about what was wrong, but she might be able to shed some light on what the hell Bones was thinking last night when she slept with Hacker.

"Can you keep this secret?" Booth asked quickly.

"Yes sir."

"I overheard Hacker's secretary telling another secretary that Andrew was in a very good mood this morning and you know what that means?"

Angela gasped, "She slept with him?"

"Yeah."

"Wow." Angela said with shock and a little bit of pride, but mostly shock.

"Why would she do that?" Booth asked in a voice that was both pleading and questioning.

"Booth she is a very smart, very sexy woman who has needs too."

"You don't think I know that?" Booth yelled.

"Well apparently you don't!" Angela tossed back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Booth asked.

"You told her that you loved her…in an atta-girl sort of way!"

Booth was silent for a second and then he sighed, "I did."

Angela sighed, "I'm gonna tell you something…a secret really, and then I'm not gonna get in the middle of this. Brennan is my best friend and I want her to be happy and if Andrew makes her happy….."

Booth cut her off, "Please tell me Ang."

"She thinks that you don't like her…romantically. She knows that you would kill for her and die to save her, but she thinks you aren't interested in her like Hacker is."

Booth was silent for a second, "She actually said that?"

"Yeah, sorry Booth."

Booth hung up and stared at the phone, Brennan had no idea that every night he dreamed of her, dreamed of making love to her, every night he recalled his alter-ego-coma life of being married to Brennan and her being pregnant with their child and wished it was real.

CHAPTER 4

Brennan drove though the slushy streets of DC on her way to lunch with Andrew. As she drove she replayed last night and tried to figure out where it went wrong. She had been having a good time, she invited him in for a drink, which had turned into a hot-and-heavy make-out session on the couch, but when it came down to having sex, she couldn't do it. Her body had clearly stimulated him and her body was adequately stimulated but she couldn't go through with it and she had no idea why and it bothered her. She had always had a healthy sexual appetite and now she felt like a meat-eater who suddenly became vegan and walked into a butcher shop, no appetite.

She parked and walked into the restaurant, she found Andrew waiting at the hostess podium.

"Tempe." Andrew said with a bright smile.

"Andrew." She said as he leaned down and kissed her on the lips softly. His kiss felt nice, but the heat and passion wasn't there. She sighed softly as she followed the hostess and Andrew.

After a boring lunch in which she hardly ate, she drove back to the lab. Andrew had been very happy and had wanted to go out again tonight, but Tempe had told him she had obligations with her writing and he completely understood. She didn't like lying to him, but she was suddenly uninterested in him. She didn't want to dump him per say, but she didn't want to go out with him.

She was back on the platform going over the torture/burn victim when she heard her name.

"Bones."

She smiled and turned to see Booth standing at the bottom of the platform stairs.

"Hi."

"We've got another body." He said.

She took off her gloves and turned to her intern Daisy Wick,

"Ms. Wick, please finish and get the report on my desk."

"Yes Dr. Brennan." Daisy called back.

Brennan grabbed her bag and trailed after Booth. He held open her door and she slid in and put her seat-belt on.

Booth drove and kept Brennan in his view.

"So how was your night?" Booth asked.

"What?" Brennan asked. Booth's voice had pulled her out of her head.

"How was your night?" he asked again.

"It was okay."

"Just okay?" Booth asked. Booth really wanted to know what had happened last night.

"Andrew was….nice."

"Nice? He was just nice? Bones you would tell me if he was in _anyway_ overstepping his bounds right?"

Brennan smiled at Booth's protectiveness and put her hand on his arm, "He was nice Booth, he wasn't untoward in anyway."

"Untoward?" he asked.

"He was a gentleman."

_Just not the gentleman I wanted to be making out with on the couch,_ Brennan thought.

Booth nodded his head and kept an eye on her as he turned the corner.

"What happened?" he asked.

Brennan was quiet for a second, "Booth you hate talking about our relationships."

"Well we're partners and friends and…I think we should be able to talk about those things." This was a lie, but Booth wanted to know.

"Okay."

"So how did it go?" Booth said the words, but he didn't want to hear her reply.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you…I mean…After dinner…"

"Did I sleep with him?" Brennan asked after watching Booth stumble to ask.

"Yeah." Booth said as he winced at her bluntness.

"No."

"Really?" Booth asked, hiding the smile that wanted to light up the inside of the vehicle.

"It was clear that he was more then willing but I just couldn't go through with it."

"Why?" Booth asked, wanting very much to know the answer.

Brennan shrugged, "I don't know. I've never had that problem."

"Maybe Assistant Director Hacker isn't the one for you." Booth said as he looked into Brennan's eyes.

Brennan turned to look into Booth's eyes, "Maybe he isn't."

CHAPTER 5

The second body was in another abandoned warehouse across town from the first victim. Like the first one, she was tied to a chair and there wasn't much left of her.

After an initial examination she turned to Booth, "Same as before, female, late 20's to early 30's, Caucasian."

Booth took notes and turned back to Bones who was busy instructing the FBI tech's on exactly how to get her out of the chair without losing any evidence.

Brennan was a sight to behold, she was beautiful with her soft brown hair and blue eyes, but she was more then just a beautiful woman, she was talented, sexy, sophisticated and smart.

On the ride back to the Jeffersonian Brennan spoke, "My place?"  
>"What?" Booth asked.<p>

"It's Friday. We always have dinner and watch movies together. My place tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Seven?"

Brennan nodded her head and looked at the screen on her camera as she flipped through the pictures she had just taken.

Booth dropped Brennan off and went back to his office to finish up his work so he could be with Brennan tonight. He was excited to spend time with Brennan. Other then his weekends with Parker, Friday night's were his favorite nights.

Booth was nearly done with his work when he heard his name, "Booth?"

Booth snapped his head up and saw Andrew Hacker in front of him.

"Hi boss."

"Can we talk?"

"Um, sure. What's up?"

"You and Tempe are close, did she say anything about me today?"

Booth felt like a school kid caught between the boy who liked the girl, but couldn't talk to her.

"No, she just said your date was nice."

Andrew smiled, "I took her for Cuban food and then dancing. She's an amazing dancer."

"I know sir." Booth said as he recalled how her body moved.

"Oh, you've danced with her?" Andrew's voice tinged with jealousy.

"A few times sir." Booth said with a smile.

Andrew sat there for a couple minutes until Booth spoke, "Sir I've go to finish this paperwork."

"Of course. Talk to you later Booth."

Booth was glad when he left and he quickly finished his work and got out of the Hoover Building before anyone else could corner him. He went home and took a shower and changed. He spent a while on what to wear, he wanted to look good, but not look like he had tried. He felt like he was turning into a high school kid worried about what to wear.

He drove by Blockbuster and picked out a couple movies that he had wanted to see, but couldn't watch with Parker since they were rated above G.

He got to Brennan's a little after seven and took the elevator up to her apartment. He knocked and smiled when he saw Brennan wearing jeans and an FBI t-shirt he had given her. She rarely dressed down, but when she did, she looked even sexier.

"Hi." She said with a smile.

"Hi." He said back.

"Come in, I just ordered."

"What did you order?"

"It's a surprise. Do you have the movies?"

Booth handed her the Blockbuster bag and she smiled when she looked in it. "You got me Raisinettes."

"They're your favorite." Booth said with a smile.

Brennan hugged him suddenly and Booth didn't miss an opportunity to put his arms around her and hold her. Her soft hair was intoxicating, her body was warm and made him have thoughts he was embarrassed to have.

"What was that for?" Booth asked as he hung up his jacket in the closet next to him.

"You're the only person who remembers what I like. You remember everything that I like."

"Well we're partners and I've known you a long time." Booth said.

Brennan was standing very close to him, making him aware of her body.

"It's more then that Booth. I was in a relationship with Sully and he never remembered any of the things I liked."

"Well…maybe Sully didn't think to remember them."

Brennan shook her head and looked into Booth's chocolate colored eyes.

She really wanted him to kiss her. Kiss her and make her forget everything bad that was happening.

"No, you're just the only one who…ever cared enough to remember…I guess." Booth swallowed hard as he and Brennan's bodies and lips got closer. "You know that I care about you, don't you?" Booth asked as he slowly lowered his head toward her lips. The doorbell rang and they both jumped apart and Brennan went to the door.

CHAPTER 6

Brennan answered the door and found the delivery guy from the sushi restaurant. She paid him and carried the bag back into the apartment where she found Booth leaning against the doorway to the kitchen.

"What is it?" Booth asked.

"Sushi."

Booth nodded his head, he had only eaten sushi once and it had been bad, of course he had eaten the wasabi thinking it was a piece of fish, so maybe that was why it had been a bad experience.

He watched her unpack the bag and smiled. Her body was amazing, her knowledge of everything was vast and she was his….or she would be, once he manned up and told her that he did love her and found her very appealing.

Booth slid a DVD into the machine and found his way to the couch; they ate the insane amount of sushi Brennan had gotten while they watched the new Terminator movie.

"You know that this movie really isn't possible, right?" Brennan asked Booth when they paused the movie.

Booth laughed, "Come on Bones, don't spoil my fantasies."

Brennan smiled and cleaned up the empty sushi boxes while Booth went to the bathroom. After Booth came out, her cell phone rang. She picked it up from the counter and saw it was Andrew. She didn't really want to talk to him, but she did.

"Hello Andrew."

"Hi Tempe, I don't want to bother you while you work. I just wanted to remind you to eat, I've heard that you can get caught up in work and I wouldn't want you to forget to eat."

Brennan smiled, "Thank you Andrew that was very sweet. I will."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." Brennan hung up and turned off the light and sat down on the couch next to Booth.

"Everything okay?" Booth asked, not wanting to pry but wanting to know every damn detail of the call. He wanted to know why Andrew was calling her and what they had talked about. _God, he felt like a high-school girl wanting to know all the gossip._

"Yeah. Andrew called to remind me to eat; he heard I tend to get caught up in my work. He thinks I'm working on my book right now."

"So you're lying to him?" Booth asked.

Brennan sighed, "Yes."

"Why? You don't believe in lying to people."

Booth was surprised that she was lying, Brennan didn't lie and he wondered what was going on with her to make her lie to a man that she was basically dating, that was a big deal.

Brennan didn't want to tell Booth, she was still afraid that he wasn't interested in her like she was him. She was afraid that she was going to waste her life waiting for Booth to make a move, if he even wanted too. She knew that she could _never_ make the first move. She would die a life of loneliness if she made a move and he wasn't interested. It would be the worst pain in her life to be rejected by Booth.

"Temperance answer my question."

Booth only used her name when he meant business. Brennan sighed, "I don't know."

"You don't know why you're lying to him? You need to know why you're lying to him."

"I-I don't find him interesting any more."

"You don't?" Booth asked, loving the answer but keeping that to himself.

Brennan shook her head and didn't look Booth in the eye.

"So why are you still letting him get his hopes up?"

"I don't want to hurt his feelings. I like him; I'm just not attracted to him…like I was."

"What changed?" Booth asked with interest.

Brennan got up from the couch and started walking away, but Booth grabbed her arm.

"Temperance, tell me." His brown eyes looked into her blue eyes, pleading.

"Us!" Brennan yelled as she pulled away from Booth and walked into the kitchen where Booth couldn't see her eyes full of tears.

"What do you mean us?" Booth said as he followed her into the kitchen.

"I mean us, me and you."

"What happened between us that made you start lying?" Booth was upset at the thought that something he had done or said made her become a liar.

"That's not why I'm lying." Brennan finally said after a long pause.

"You just said it was us."

"No it's us that _changed_ why I don't find Andrew interesting anymore."

"What changed with us?" Booth asked as he approached Brennan.

"TheEgyptianparty." Brennan rushed as she looked at the floor.

"What?" Booth asked.

"The Egyptian party." Brennan said as she finally looked at him and Booth knew exactly what she was referring too.

CHAPTER 7

Booth just stared at Brennan for a moment while he gathered what to say. She had been thinking about this for a while, he could tell. The only thing was; what did she think of their near kiss? Was she upset they hadn't kissed? Happy they hadn't? Confused? Angry? Embarrassed? Booth raked his hand through his hair and looked at his partner, who was on the verge of tears.

"Bones don't cry." Booth said as he stepped to her.

"I'm not." Bones said as she wiped the tears away.

Booth smiled, Bones was like the child that said she wasn't crying as the tears poured forth, always keeping a brave face.

Booth put his hand out and stroked Bone's cheek. Bone's turned her face into his hand. She loved the feeling of him touching her.

Booth stepped closer, closing the gap between them. His other hand found its way to her face, both hands cupping her face.

"Bones…I-I…." Booth stared as he leaned toward her perfect lips.

Bones knew he was about to kiss her and was both excited and terrified. She had never blurted out something so brazen before and all she wanted was for Booth to take her in his arms and hold her, kiss her until the world stopped. Brennan knew that the world really wouldn't stop, but when Booth held her it felt like anything was possible.

Just as Booth's lips touched hers, his cell phone rang. Booth sighed against her lips, causing her to shiver and yanked his phone out of his pocket and looked at the display, FBI Headquarters.

"What!" Booth growled into the line.

"Agent Booth, its Assistant Director Hacker."

"Hi Boss."

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" Hacker asked with a tinge of anger in his voice from Booth's harsh reaction.  
>"Kinda sir, what's up?"<p>

"They found another body and it looks like the ones you and Tempe have already found. I want you to take the lead on this, can you do that?"

Booth was surprised that he was being offered the lead on a serial investigation, but he wasn't about to turn that down. "Of course sir, thank you."

"Do you know where Tempe lives? You should get her and get to the scene."

"Yes sir, I've picked her up a million times."

Booth took down the address that Hacker told him and looked at Bones and sighed, "Another body."

Bones looked scared for the first time in their partnership and Booth didn't like it. They drove to the scene, neither talking about their recent activities in the kitchen or what they really wanted to say to each other. Booth kept an eye on Bones, who just stared out into the night as they drove.

They pulled up to a warehouse that looked like every other warehouse they had been at, large, abandoned, non-descript, defaced and containing a dead body.

A tall well-built FBI tech appeared as soon as Booth stopped the vehicle.

"Dr. Brennan." The FBI tech said with a smile.

"Henry." Bones said with a smile.

Henry turned to Booth, "Agent Booth, I'm Agent Henry Thorpe."

Booth eyed the younger man and stuck his hand out and shook Henry's hand. They followed Henry toward the body and Booth spoke to Bones.

"Who is Henry?"

"He's one of your technicians."

"I can see that from his FBI jacket. How does he know you?" Booth could barely hide the jealousy in his voice.

"He took the Jeffersonian's course on evidence collection and he and I talked."

"Talked?"

"Yes Booth, that's when two or more people verbally exchange ideas or information."

"I know what talking is Bones. It just looks like Henry wants more than talking from you."

Bones sighed, "That's not my problem. I can't control the man's sexual urges. I have been told before that I am quite an excellent lover, so it wouldn't surprise me that he wants to have sex with me."

Booth stared at Bones as they kept walking toward the body; it was rare to hear her talk like that. Truth-be-told, nearly every man in the FBI Hoover building wanted to have sex with Brennan and some of the women did also.

Brennan approached the body and frowned as she looked at it carefully.

"Booth?"

"Yeah." Booth said as he stood next to her.

"She's been killed within the last couple hours, so recent that her body is still smoldering." Booth frowned and looked down at Bones, who was looking up at Booth. ~

CHAPTER 8

It took a while before they could move the body, but Booth and Bones followed the body to the Medico-Legal lab. Bones called in Cam and Hodgins and Angela, she wanted to get this going to find the man responsible for these atrocities. She didn't like being afraid of finding more bodies every time the phone rang.

After getting the body on the platform with the help of the FBI technicians, Bones was glad to see Hodgins and Cam come through the door.

"Dr. B, heard we got another one." Hodgins said in a somber voice.

"Yes. Where is Angela?"

"Right here." Angela said from behind Brennan.

"Can you get an ID on her?" Brennan asked as she handed the skull to Angela.

"Yeah." Angela said as she took the tray containing the skull and hurried to her office.

Bones stared down at the body and felt a wave of emotions hit her. She never let a case get personal, but this one was getting under her skin and she didn't like that.

Booth came up to the platform and saw that Bones was staring at the body and had a look on her face that he had never seen. This worried him since he knew every look and tell that Bones had, this one was new.

"Bones?"

Brennan looked up and saw Booth.

"Yeah?"

"Come here." Booth said. Brennan took off her gloves and walked down the stairs toward Booth.

"Let's go in your office."

"Why?" Brennan asked.

"You're upset. I don't like seeing you upset."

Booth and Bones walked into her office and she sat on the couch while Booth closed the door and sat next to his partner.

"What's wrong? I've never seen you this upset on a case before."

Brennan shook her head, "I don't know, this one is getting under my skin. I don't like that every time the phone rings, we're going off to find another body. We have to stop him Booth, he can't keep killing woman."

Booth looked into Brennan's eyes, "Bones we will get this guy, I promise."

Brennan put her hand in his and sat there for a moment. She liked the feeling of her hand in his and the silence in the office. Her hand in his, her heart content. Booth's fingers would brush her fingers and she would feel her heart beat faster and loved the feeling. A couple minutes later her office phone rang. She got up to answer it and smiled and hung up.

"Ang got a face for the skull, she wants us."

They arrived in Angela's office and saw the three faces on the screen and Booth saw the resemblance to Bones instantly.

Booth took Bones hand and held it in his, not caring if anyone saw it.

Angela saw Bones and Booth and gave a weak smile, "I was hoping the first one was a fluke, but I'm wrong. Each girl looks like the next, brown hair, blue eyes, great bone structure…"

"And they all look very much like Dr. Brennan." Sweets said from the back of the room. Everyone turned and was surprised he was there.

"What are you doing here Sweets?" Booth asked.

"I heard we had another case. Does anyone not see the resemblance to Dr. Brennan? The hair, the eyes, the bone structure?"

Brennan studied the pictures closely and saw a general resemblance to herself, but didn't want to say anything.

"I haven't been able to get an ID on the third girl, but I'm running her picture."

Booth saw that Bones was upset at hearing she looked like the bodies they had found. "Ok. Bones I'm taking you home." Booth said which got no argument from anyone.

Bones went back to her office and grabbed her bag and her coat and found Booth standing in the doorway.

"Are you okay?" Booth asked.

Brennan shook her head and willed the tears not to fall, she hated falling apart. She always told everyone she could take care of herself and that was from a life time of being alone and having to do everything herself, but the truth was that she couldn't do it alone, she needed her 'family' for support. Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Sweets, Max, Russ and most importantly Booth.

Booth shut the door and pulled Brennan into a hug. He kissed the top of her head.

Brennan began crying softly, "Shh Bones, we're going to get him." Booth said. Booth wrapped his arms around her body and held her tight to him. He didn't want her to be scared by this 'man' that was killing woman who looked like her.

Bones looked up into Booth's molten chocolate eyes and believed every word he said.

"Bones, I-I want you to know that…."

Booth stopped talking and lowered his head to Brennan's and kissed her lips softly. The kiss was rudely interrupted by the ear-splitting security alarm that immediately locked down the Medico-Legal lab.

CHAPTER 9

Booth yanked the door open and met the squints in the lab as they came out of their offices in a panic.

"What was that?" Angela asked worried.

Two Jeffersonian security guards came in, "False alarm everyone."

"False alarm? We have a state of the art system. We don't _have_ false alarms." Hodgins said as conspiracies started forming in his head.

"There was a report of someone trying to get into the building, but it was a false report."

"What!" Booth said. "Who in the hell was trying to get into the building?"

The older guard looked tired, "We got a report from a guy on the cleaning crew that someone was trying to get into the building so we locked it down. Turned out that an intern locked himself out of the building."

Booth looked from the older guard to the younger one who seemed eager and excited; he was also talking to Bones animatedly.

"Hi, I'm Bill Adams. I'm the newest security guard."

"Hi." Bones said politely to the eager man. He smiled at her and she felt a little creeped out by him and wanted to be as far away from him as she could get.

"So we can leave?" Angela asked.

"Yeah." The older guard said with a smile. Angela had the ability to make a monk blush when she poured on the charm.

"Bones come on." Booth said as he took her wrist.

"See you Monday." She said to her co-workers as she left the lab.

She climbed into the SUV and they drove to Brennan's apartment in silence. Brennan was thinking of how soft Booth's lips were and what was behind the kiss. Was it passion? Guilt? Pity? Did he find her attractive?

_God, I'm so confused!_

Bones unlocked the door and Booth took off his coat and began looking around the apartment.  
>"What are you doing?" Bones asked.<p>

"Just checking." He said as he closed the linen closet.

"It's highly unlikely that someone would enter my home and hide in the linen closet…unless the person entering is a midget."

Booth smiled, "Indulge me. Let me make sure you're safe."

Brennan threw up her hands in surrender.

"Booth?"

"Yeah?" he said as he sat on the couch.

"Will you…I mean if you wouldn't mind…"

"What Bones?" Booth asked.

Bones let out a breath, "Could you stay here tonight?"

Booth smiled, "Sure. I'll get my bag." He pulled his back-up gun from his ankle and handed it to her.

He took her keys and walked out her apartment door. Booth had a 'go bag' in his SUV that had a couple changes of clothes and the essentials needed in case of having to go out of state quickly on a case or in rare times he stayed overnight any where.

He unlocked the apartment and didn't see Bones in the living room, but the gun was on the coffee table.

"Bones?" he called.

"In here." She called from her room.

He sighed, she always wanted a gun and the minute he gives her one, she leaves it in the other room. She was definitely not ready to carry a gun at all times like she thought she was.

She came out wearing the FBI t-shirt and a pair of shorts that made Booth gulp. Her long lean legs emerged from beneath the white material. He also noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. _God help him._

"How were you going to shoot the bad guy if the gun is in the other room?" he asked.

Bones grinned sheepishly, "You are correct. I am ill-equipped at handling firearms for personal safety."

"I'm gonna change." He said as he shook his head slowly. The image of Bones in a t-shirt with no bra and her long legs bare made his mind race with dirt thoughts. Thoughts of them naked, sweaty, sheets balled up, pillows askew and screaming each others name in ecstasy.

He stood in Bones' guest bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.

_Pull it together Seeley, she is your partner and your friend. If you do anything to hurt that she will never love you or trust you with her heart._

Booth emerged from the guest bedroom in a pair of black sleep pants that showed off his amazing chest and how built he really was.

Brennan found herself staring so she dragged her eyes away from his perfect body and onto the TV screen. They had agreed to finish the movie at Bones' pleading, she actually like it.

She sat next to Booth on the couch and put her head on his shoulder and started watching the movie. It wasn't uncommon for them to sit like this when they watched movies, but now somehow it was different. Bones moved her head to his chest and sighed contently.

Booth smiled as he felt her breath on his chest and kissed the top of her head. He could sit like that for the rest of his life and never complain.

CHAPTER 10

Brennan kissed Booth's chest softly and moved her head slightly. She felt his body tense up after she kissed him and then….nothing. She was a little disappointed, but she also felt a little silly that she felt she _had_ to have her body touching his to feel safe.

"Bones your arm is freezing cold." Booth said as his hand slid up and down her arm. Booth wanted to rub his hands up and down her legs but he was afraid that his mind would take over._He would pull those shorts off and then his deft fingers would… STOP he screamed to his thoughts as they ran amok. _

Booth grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and pulled it over her. This helped his thoughts from going completely off the deep end and it kept her warm, even though Booth had a much better way to keep her warm.

"Thanks." She said with a smile. Booth kissed her temple and turned back to the movie.

After the movie was over Brennan pushed the blanket off and stood up, she stretched her arms over her head and the moment she did, the shirt rode up and Booth was treated to a view of her tiny waist, perfect belly button and her hips_…__oh her hips…pressed against his…moving as one_.

Booth shut his eyes and indulged in the fantasy for a second and when he opened them his face was sheen with sweat and he wanted Bones _bad_.

"Good night Bones." Booth said as he got up from the couch quickly. He had to get into his room, so he could be alone with his fantasy, the same fantasy that he had every night of his life since waking up from his coma.

"Wait." Bones said.

"What?" Booth said as he stopped his progress toward the guest room. He didn't turn around because his erection would be quite noticeable if he did.

"I know this is silly to ask…oh never mind." Bones said in a dejected voice.

"What?" Booth asked, almost pleading.

"Could you…I mean…would you…stay with me…in my room?"

_Booth's inner sex-god self was strutting his stuff and promising Booth the best night of his life, complete with images of what could happen._

_Booth's inner choir boy was singing O' Holy Night as loud as he could to keep the dirty, sweaty, sexy images out of his head. He was torn, he wanted more then anything to sleep in bed with this woman, but he didn't know if he could keep his hands off of her for that long, especially if he was so close to her._

Booth stuttered to speak, "Y-Y-Yeah."

Bones smiled, "Thank you."

"I'll lock up out here and then come in…to your room."

"Thanks Booth." Bones said as she turned around and padded into her room. Booth turned when he knew Brennan wasn't looking and watched her walk away. _Why did she have to look so freaking sexy!_

Bones looked at her huge king sized bed and pulled back the perfectly made linens. She pulled her sleep shorts off and tossed them into her closet and climbed in bed. If Booth was going to sleep with her, she was going to have as much of her touching him as she could.

Even as she thought this, she felt cheap or like an addict. Needing Booth body pressed against her for her own personal need to feel safe. Ugh!

Booth stood in the living room breathing slowly. _Okay pull it together Seeley, first you have to get rid of this giant erection._ Booth walked into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and took a huge gulp of the cold water. He was hoping it would act like ice in his veins. It helped a little, but not all the way. He walked to the front door and locked it up. He finished drinking the water and then said a prayer to every saint to keep him from losing his grasp of chivalry. He walked into Bones room and found her in bed smiling at him.

_Breathe Seeley breathe!_

CHAPTER 11

Booth climbed into the other side of the bed and felt how soft her sheets felt on his skin and recited the rosary in his head.

"Good night Booth." Bones said as she settled into bed.

"G'night Bones." Booth said as he turned off the lamp on the nightstand next to him. His elbow bumped the nightstand and Booth heard something fall and ignored it. Bones sat up like a shot and turned toward the nightstand.

"What?" Booth asked sensing his partners' anxiety.

Bones dove over Booth's body with her own. Booth grabbed the back of her leg before she smacked her head on the floor.

Booth looked down and realized exactly where his hand was and that she was wearing cheeky panties.

_Robin's egg blue cheeky panties with purple polka-dots and purple lace… Breathe Seeley breathe._

Booth couldn't help but stare at her perfect behind as it wiggled while she moved. She was looking for something on the floor and he wasn't going to offer to help when he had this view in his lap and his hand right there…..

"Got it." Bones said as she pulled herself up and sat back in bed, next to Booth.

"What?"

Bones opened her hand and Booth saw the plastic pig and the Brainy Smurfette figurine, both gifts from him to her.

Booth didn't know what to say so he kept his mouth shut.

Bones sensed something was wrong so she spoke, "I-I can't sleep if I don't have them on my nightstand. I know it's childish of me to keep them displayed but they…."

She stopped talking and looked away. Booth had to know what they meant to her, so he took her hand and brushed his fingers over her knuckles, coaxing her to talk.

"T-they mean the world to me. They're the only presents I've ever gotten that meant something to me."

Booth was in shock that two plastic figurines meant so much to a woman who could buy her own island if she wanted too.

"What do you mean Bones?"

"You gave them to me and they mean more to me then this whole apartment full of…stuff. I keep them near me all the time."

Booth smiled, "I'm glad you like them. Lets get some sleep."

Bones put her figurines on the nightstand and laid her head down, she was flush against Booth and didn't offer to move.

Booth pulled his blanket up and settled against Bones perfect neck.

Bones knew that Booth had to be dreaming of Rebecca. Why else would his hand be placed directly on top of her uterus? Bones hadn't moved since she woke up a couple moments ago. She had felt Booth's hand on her and had been in heaven, but when his hand started brushing over her uterus, her heart sank. Bones knew that Booth loved his son Parker more then anything in the world, as he should. She also knew that Booth had to be dreaming of when Rebecca told him she was pregnant. Booth was the Alpha-male protecting his offspring.

Bones felt that she had two options; Temperance Brennan was telling her that Anthropologically it didn't make sense that he should be in bed with her when he was dreaming of his child's mother. Angela Montenegro told her to shut up and that the man Brennan was in love with had his hand mere centimeters from her hoo-hah and to enjoy every blissful second. After much debating Angela won, as usual.

Bones laid there enjoying the feel of Booth's hand protectively touching her. Bones knew that she had never been a jealous woman, but right now she was green with envy. Bones had meet Rebecca several times and had never thought ill of the woman, but now Bones had wished Booth had never met her and that Booth had had Parker with her and not Rebecca.

Booth was having his favorite dream, the one where he was married to Bones and she was pregnant with their child. He woke up and realized that his hand was on Bones' stomach and he didn't care. He could tell that she was asleep from her breathing so he decided to tell her he loved her, for practice. He had practiced saying it in the mirror, but he had never said it to Bones, so her asleep was a perfect opportunity for him to work on getting his courage up to say it to her for real.

"I love you so much." Booth said as he kissed Bones' neck softly.

Bones felt tears slid down her cheeks as she heard Booth play out his dream of him telling Rebecca he loved her, when she was pregnant with their child. Bones knew that she couldn't play this out anymore so she began to stir, pretending she was waking up. Booths hand slid from her uterus and a moment later she was awake. She looked over at Booth, who was also just waking up.

"Hi Bones did you sleep okay?"

Bones gave a weak smile, "Yeah, you?"

Booth smiled, "I slept great."

CHAPTER 12

Brennan was working in Limbo when Angela found her.

"Hi sweetie how was your weekend?"

Brennan looked up and her friends face fell.

"God! Sweetie are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why?"

"You look like hell."

"Why are you insulting me Angela?"

Angela shook her head, "Are you okay? Are you sick?"

"I'm perfectly healthy." Brennan said getting slightly upset with Angela.

"You look like you're sick; you have bags under your eyes that look like they could travel to Miami and back."

Angela knew something was wrong when Brennan didn't say anything so she spoke.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Brennan nodded her head and Angela shut the door to Limbo and locked it, which was against the rules. The only doors allowed to be locked were office doors, not common areas, but it was clear that Angela didn't care.

"What happened?"

Brennan to a breath, "You know how Booth and I watch movies on Friday nights?"

Angela nodded her head, "Yeah."

"Well Friday night he….he stayed over."

Angela smiled, "Honey that's great! How was the sex? Tell me everything?"

Brennan shook her head, "We didn't have sex."

Angela's smile faltered a little, but she kept on, "So how far did you two get?"

Brennan was getting frustrated with Angela, "We didn't have any kind of sex Ang!"

"Ok, so tell me what happened."

"I asked him to sleep in my bed with me because I was afraid. For the first time in my life, I was afraid."

"He didn't agree?" Angela was already upset that Booth hadn't been there when Brennan needed him.

"No he did. He slept in bed with me."

"Then I don't see how this is going to end badly sweetie."

"When I woke up…he was touching me."

Angela smiled, "Did he have his hand on your boob? Booth seems like a boob man."

Brennan shook her head and put her hand against her uterus.

"His hand was there!" Angela's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Brennan that is a good thing. His hand was so close to your…"

"He was dreaming of Rebecca!" Brennan nearly shouted as the tears fell.

"He was dreaming of her while he was in bed with me, touching me. And what's worse was I wanted him to be dreaming of me!" Brennan said as sobs fell from her mouth.

Angela didn't have words to comfort her friend with for the first time.

"Honey…are you sure he was dreaming of Rebecca?"

Brennan wiped the tears from her eyes, "He had his hand on my womb and then he kissed my neck and said 'I love you so much'. He was dreaming of when Rebecca told him she was pregnant with Parker."

Angela was silent as she hugged her friend and helped Brennan clean up her face so no one would know she had been crying. Brennan thought it was a sign of weakness when she cried so Angela knew better then to mention it again. Angela unlocked Limbo and went to her office, she had to do something, she couldn't see her best friend in pain like this.

Booth was sitting in his office later that evening reviewing files on the first two bodies. Both girls had lived normal lives, had gone to school, had jobs, had people who loved them and they resembled Bones. Booth hadn't heard anyone come in until another file was slapped down on his desk. His head snapped up and he found himself staring up at a very pissed off Angela Montenegro.

"Angela what's up?"

"Here." She seethed as she pushed the folder toward him.

"What's this?"

"The third victim. Chelsea Wilson age 29 from Westchester Pennsylvania. Her sister reported her missing."

"Ang what's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong?"

Booth looked at her for a second, "Other then the fact that you look like you want to kill me? I have no idea."

"I hate you right now Seeley Booth."

"Me? What did I do? Shouldn't you be made at Hodgins or something?"

"Why would I be made at Hodgins? He never made her cry."

"Who made who cry?" Booth asked getting confused at their conversation.

"You made Brennan cry."

"I did? What did I do?" Booth asked, he had to fix this. He couldn't make her cry, that was inexcusable.

"You…never mind." Angela said as she turned to storm out.

Booth was faster then she was and was in front of her before she got to the door. He shut it and looked down at her.  
>"Please tell me what I can do so I can fix it. You know that I would never intentionally do anything to make Bones cry."<p>

Angela sighed and sat down in the chair across from his desk.

"You stayed over on Friday…in Brennan's room. When Brennan woke up your hand was on her…"

"I know where my hand was Angela." Booth said quickly before she could say it. _There were some things that he wasn't willing to talk to Angela about and where his hand was, was one of them._

"Anyway, you kissed Brennan's neck and said 'I love you so much'."

"She heard that?" Booth asked.

"She was awake Booth."

Booth didn't know what to say, he had wanted it to be practice, not the actual time he told her. He had planned to tell her after taking her out on an amazing date.

"So she was crying because of what I said?" Booth asked slightly panicked that it had all gone horribly wrong.

"What? No. She was crying because your hand was…and you told her you loved her…while you were dreaming of Rebecca you jerk!"

"Rebecca? What are you talking about?"

"You were dreaming of when Rebecca told you that she was pregnant with Parker."

"No I wasn't."

Angela looked like she didn't believe him.

Booth sighed, "I was remembering when I was in a coma and I was married to Bren and she was pregnant with our child."

Angela's eyes were wide, "You were dreaming of you and Brennan being married and pregnant? Seeley Joseph Booth that is the sweetest thing ever!"

"So why was Bones crying?" Booth asked again.

"She thinks you were dreaming of Rebecca." Angela said for the second time.

Booth sighed and raked his hand through his hair and looked at Angela.

"How do I fix this?"

It was Angela's turn to sigh, "I don't know if you can. She's having dinner with Andrew tonight…."

CHAPTER 13

Booth was out of his seat, "She's what!" he bellowed.

"Andrew called her at lunch and asked if she would have dinner with him and she agreed."

Booth groaned, "This is bad."

"You can't blame her Booth; she thinks that you were dreaming of another woman while you were in bed with her."

"I only ever dream of Bones." Booth said while he paced the room trying to think of a way he could fix this.

"You do?" Angela asked with a smile.

"Do what?" Booth asked.

"Only dream of Brennan."

Booth nodded his head, "Haven't stopped dreaming of her in over two years."

"Yeah but your surgery was only four months ago…."

"I know Angela."

Angela smiled knowing that Booth had been in love with Brennan for the last two years. She had to help Booth fix this; she couldn't let them not end up together. Booth and Brennan were meant to be together, they were like peanut butter and jelly.

Booth's phone rang and he picked it up.

"Yeah"

"Agent Booth, they found another body." The dispatcher told him.

"Okay, give me an address."

Booth wrote it down and frowned, "Got another one."

"I'll get everyone to the lab, you get Bones."

She turned to leave, "Booth?"

"Yeah?"

"Brennan would kill me if I told you this, but you need to know."

"What?" Booth asked, almost pleading.

"She loves you…a lot."

"She does?" Booth asked, this was surprising news, great, but surprising.

"She has been for a while."

"Why hasn't she said something?" Booth asked.

Angela shook her head, "Booth it's not that easy. If she made the first move and you didn't respond, she would die alone and the pain of rejection from you would be the _worst_ thing she could ever feel. Even worse then when her parents left her."

Booth nodded his head, "Thanks Ang."

"All I ask is that someday I get to spoil your children."

Booth smiled, "Of course Angela."

Booth picked up the phone to call Bones and hoped that it wasn't too late.

Brennan had left the Jeffersonian at lunch, she was exhausted from not sleeping all weekend. She had just gotten home to take a nap when her cell phone had rung. It was Andrew wanting to go out to dinner, she had almost told him that she wasn't interested, but then stopped. It was clear that Booth was still in love with Rebecca, even if he didn't admit it, so there was no reason for her to keep waiting. She was going to move on with her life. She had accepted Andrew's dinner proposal and hung up to get some much needed sleep.

Brennan was laughing at a joke Andrew had made when her cell phone rang.

"I'm sorry Andrew, they know not to call unless it's an emergency."

"It's okay Tempe, you're in the middle of a murder investigation." He said with a reassuring smile as she took the call.

"Hello?"

"Bones, we got another body."

Brennan sighed, "Okay give me the address."

"Don't you want me to come get you?" Booth asked quickly.

"No, I'm on a date Booth. Andrew can bring me, just give me the address."

Booth reluctantly read off the address and hung up with Brennan. This was going to take all his energy, chivalry, affection and attention, but he was going to make Brennan understand that he was in love with her and no one else.

Andrew had signaled for the waiter when he heard 'another body'.

"I'm so sorry Andrew." Brennan said as they walked to his SUV.

"It's okay Tempe, it's your job to do this." Andrew said as he drove out of the lot and toward the address.

"I was having a good time with you." Brennan said with a smile.

Andrew put his hand on her leg and smiled, "I'm sure when this case is over that we will have more time to have fun."

Brennan smiled, "That sounds like fun, what did you have in mind?"

Andrew took a breath, "I've got a house in the Hamptons and I thought when this was all over, you and I could go up there for a long weekend."

Brennan smiled, "I would like that, a lot."

Andrew stroked her leg softly and Brennan closed her eyes, letting the feeling sink in.

They pulled up at the address Booth had given her and they got out.

"Tempe do you want me to wait for you?" Andrew asked.

"No, I have no idea how long we'll be, I don't want you to have to wait."

"How will you get home?" Andrew asked as he walked over to Tempe's side of the car.

"Booth will take me."

Andrew didn't like the fact that Booth spent so much time with Tempe. Andrew was already worried that under the surface they had feelings for each other, even thought both denied it, and Andrew was not okay with the thought of Booth ending up with Tempe. Tempe was out of Booth's class, she was smarter, better looking, wealthier and she was going to be his. He had already decided that she would meet his family this Christmas and that when the time was right, he would marry her. He could see their life, him helping her with her books, making love for hours, sleeping in, kids and pets.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow." Andrew said as he pulled Tempe to him and kissed her. He had seen Booth watching them and wanted to make sure that Booth understood who Tempe was going to be going home with, Andrew Hacker, not Seeley Booth.

Brennan was surprised at Andrew's dominance in the kiss and she liked it. She leaned into the kiss and felt her lips parting slowly and Andrew's tongue teasing her mouth softly. Andrew was a good kisser, she decided.

Booth could barely keep himself in check, he had seen Andrew grab Bones and kiss her passionately. He had also seen that Andrew had seen Booth looking at them and he wondered if Andrew was putting on a show.

Bones came over to Booth, "Where is the body?"

Booth just pointed to the back of the warehouse and she walked that way. After her initial examination, she had the FBI tech get the body prepared for transport back to the Jeffersonian.

"Ready to go Bones?" Booth asked.

"Yeah."

They got into Booth's SUV and after a couple moments of silence Booth spoke.

"I talked to Parker today…"

"How is he?" Bones asked with a smile, she really liked Parker.

"He's good, he wants to see you, he really likes you."

"He's welcome to see me whenever he wants to."

Booth nodded his head and drove a little further, thankful that traffic was making it a slow ride.

"Did I ever tell you how I found out about Parker?" Booth asked.

Brennan was surprised by his topic of conversation, she didn't want to hear him relive the dream that he had had Friday night, but something inside her told her to listen, "No."

Booth sighed, "Rebecca and I had been fighting _a lot_ and she called me one night and said she hated me. I asked her why she hated me this time and she told me that I had gotten her pregnant."

"She hated you for getting her pregnant?" Brennan asked slowly.

"At the time, later she was happy about it, but she was cold, distant and just plain mean to me for a long time."

"Oh." Brennan said.

"I don't even think we slept in the same bed during her entire pregnancy, I never got to feel Parker move in the middle of the night or kick in the morning." Booth said.

"I'm sorry Booth."

"Why? It's not anything I can change. I'll just make sure that next time I have a baby with a woman; it's a woman that loves me as much as I love her. A woman I would die for, a woman I would kill for, a woman who is happy to have me come home every night, a woman who likes Thai food as much as I do."

Booth looked over at Brennan who was looking into his eyes, trying to decode what he had just said to her.

CHAPTER 14

Booth had taken Brennan to the lab and she got started working even though it was nearly 11pm.

Around 1am she stopped and yawned, "What time is it?" she asked out-loud.

"One." Booth said.

Brennan sighed, "I should get some sleep. Will you take me home?" She asked Booth.

"Of course." Booth said as he smiled at Brennan. Her blue eyes were tired, but they were also thinking of every word he had told her on the ride over and Booth was glad that she was processing everything he had said, he only hoped that she came up with the correct conclusion. He couldn't outright tell her that he knew she thought he had been dreaming of Rebecca.

Booth stopped the SUV in front of her building and parked.

"Wake up Bones." Booth said softly as he touched his partner's cheek softly.

"Where are we?" Brennan asked as she yawned. Booth couldn't stop staring at her lips…_god her lips were amazing, especially when they're on my skin…when she kissed my chest, I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin._

"Your apartment, ready to go?"

"I'll be fine Booth." Bone said as she put her hand on the handle.

"I'm not letting you go up there alone Bones."

"I can handle myself." She said defensively.

Booth didn't want to fight with her, it was the thing he hated most in the universe, other then making her cry, but he wasn't going to give in on this point.

"I'm coming up to check your apartment whether you like it or not." He said sternly.

_Brennan sat there absorbing what he had said, she hated to admit to herself that she liked when Booth got overprotective and insisted on doing something. It made her feel primal, like he was the alpha-male protecting his woman...only she wasn't his woman, so why did it excite her so much when it happened?_

"Fine." Bones muttered as she got out of the SUV and walked toward her building. After the key gave her trouble again, she nearly kicked the door in frustration.

"Let me do it, you're tired."

"I'm not too tired to open a door Booth, a child could do this."

"Not a sleepy child." Booth said back with a smile.

"I'm not a child." Bones mumbled as she shoved the keys into his hands and crossed her arms over her chest.

Booth was able to get the door open quickly and handed the keys back to Bones.

"You should have the super look at the lock, it may need to be replaced." Booth said as he began walking around her apartment checking every closet and under each bed.

"Can I go to sleep now?" Bones asked as she hugged her arms to herself.

"Sure."

"Good night Booth." Brennan said.

"G'night Bones." Booth said as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He turned and walked out the door, he paused long enough to make sure she locked her doors and then left.

The next morning Brennan was lying in bed when her phone rang, she rolled to the edge of her bed and reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello gorgeous." A voice said.

Brennan couldn't help but smile, "When did you get back?"

The voice laughed, "A couple days ago."

"How was your trip?" she asked with honest curiosity.

"It was amazing, wanna hear about it?"

"Of course. When?"

"Lunch today? On me?"

She smiled, "Okay, when and where?"

"The diner? One?"

"Sure, I'll see you there."

"Bye Tempe."

"Bye."

Brennan smiled as she hung up the phone.

She walked into the lab with a smile on her face for the first time in a few days, she still hadn't been able to sleep, but the phone call had brightened her day, it was going to be a good Tuesday. Anthropologically it was rational to be desirable to men, but she felt a little silly that _she_ was wanted. She knew she was socially awkward and didn't have the same people skills that Booth had, she knew that she was an attractive woman and an excellent lover, but the men that were pursing her had no idea what she was really like, only Booth did and he was in love with Rebecca.

Why did things have to be so unfair? Was it wrong to want Booth for herself?

She had never even told Angela this, but when Booth was seeing Cam, she had been unable to sleep at night, she had gotten in a bad pattern of taking a dose of cold medicine to put herself to sleep, which she knew was never the answer, but after a week and a half of no sleep, even illegal drugs were starting to look good to the sleep deprived individual, so cold medicine had seemed like a 'safe' answer to a problem that was much deeper, as Sweets would say.

Angela wondered onto the platform where Brennan was working shortly after noon, "Hey sweetie, wanna have lunch?"

"Sorry I've already got plans Ang."

"Andrew?"

"No."

"Booth?" Angela asked with a smile.

"No."

Angela frowned, "Your dad?"

"No."

"Your brother?"

"No."

Angela was running out of suspects so she sighed, "Are you going to tell me?"

"Did you want to know?" Brennan asked, not sure why Angela was so interested in her lunch plans.

"No I was asking because I was bored." Angela said.

Brennan frowned, "If you don't have enough to do I can make sure you stay busy."

Angela's eyes widened, "I was kidding!"

"Oh." Brennan said as she looked back at the newest set of remains, completely blowing off her best friend in the process.

Angela was silent for a moment before walking off the platform, confused and slightly upset at her best friend.

Twenty minutes later Booth arrived with a bag of food.

"I've got lunch." He said with a smile as he walked into Bones' office.

"I've got lunch plans already."

Booth's face fell, "Oh, I didn't know you had plans with Andrew."

"I'm not going to lunch with Andrew."

"Angela?" Booth asked hopeful.

"No."

"Max?"

"No."

"Russ?"

"No, why is everyone so concerned about my lunch plans?" Bones yelled.

Booth just stared at her, "I didn't know anyone else asked you, I'm sorry."

Brennan closed her eyes for a second, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm…just not sleeping much." Which was a lie, she wasn't sleeping at all, she had to put on a lot of make-up to keep her bags from showing.

"You aren't sleeping?" Booth asked worriedly.

"No."

This was news to Booth, but he had also not been able to sleep recently, so he wasn't as sharp on noticing things lately.

"Are you sick?" Booth asked.

"No. I'm going to be late. I'll see you when I get back." She said as she walked out of her office.

"Who are you having lunch with?" Booth asked, but Brennan was too far away to hear him.

CHAPTER 15

Brennan arrived at the diner at 1pm on the dot and smiled when she saw him sitting there waiting for her, smiling and looking amazing.

She opened the door and saw his eyes light up when she walked in.

"Hello Tempe."

"Hi Jared." Brennan said as he hugged her to him and kissed her cheek softly.

"So how is my favorite forensic anthropologist?" the younger Booth asked.

"She's good. How is the younger Booth?"

He smiled, "I don't even rate as your favorite Booth?"

Brennan smiled, "Jared…."

"I know, I know…my brother is your partner and you trust him with your life, but if you gave me the chance, I think I could outrank my brother."

Brennan smiled and doubted that Jared would ever outrank Booth, but didn't say anything. Sure Jared was smarter on an intellectual level, but Booth…Seeley was more brave, more passionate, more honest, more personable, more…amazing then Jared. But Jared wanted her…bad, so maybe he was the Booth that was meant for her…maybe Seeley wasn't meant to be hers, but Jared was.

"So how was India?" Brennan asked with a smile.

"It was amazing. I have never felt more at peace in my life. It's oddly romantic."

"What is?"

"India."

"I didn't find it romantic."

Jared rolled his eyes, "That's because you were digging up bodies to identify."

Brennan smiled, "That's true."

"See, if you let me show you the romantic side of places and things, you might start to realize that there is more then bad in the world Tempe."

Brennan was surprised that Jared knew she worried about all the bad in the world.

"H-how…."

Jared smiled and put his hand on hers, "Tempe I know a lot more about you then you think."

"From Boo…Seeley?"

He shook his head, "No from watching you for a long time, from seeing how you interact with other people, seeing how well you do your job."

"Really?" Brennan asked with honesty.

"Yes."

"I-I guess I never knew you were paying attention."

"A man would have to be completely dumb to not pay attention to you Tempe. You light up a room when you walk in, not literally, metaphorically." He added before she could challenge him.

She smiled, "Thank you Jared, that's the nicest thing you've said to me."

He smiled and leaned his head toward hers, "I could say a lot more nice things Tempe, you just got to give me a chance."

Without thinking Brennan raised her head up to his and kissed him softly, the moment his lips were on hers she felt heat and passion, much more then with Andrew, but no where as much as Seeley and she and Seeley had barely kissed. She was really kissing Jared and it still wasn't even a fraction of what she had felt with Seeley.

She pulled back and looked into his eyes, "Jared, I need to think. This is…."

He put his finger to her lips, "I'm not going anywhere Tempe. I'm here."

She smiled and they both picked up menu's looking for what indicated to them for lunch.

Jack Hodgins was in shock over what he had just seen. He had just seen Dr. Brennan kissing Jared Booth, Seeley's younger brother and now they were having lunch. He pulled out his cell phone and called Angela, this was a world gone mad where Dr. Brennan was kissing Booth…. the wrong one!

Angela picked up on the third ring, "Hello?"

"You. Are. Never. Going. To. Believe. What. I. Just. Saw." Hodgins said as he made each word a sentence.

"What? A UFO?" Angela said with a smile.

"No baby, much better!"

Angela sighed.

"Sorry the baby was a reflex." Hodgins said quickly.

"So what was SO amazing that you had to call?"

"I just saw Dr. B kissing Jared Booth."

Angela was silent for a second, "No way."

"Yes way!"

"Shut the front door!" Angela said, in an attempt to not swear as much, one of her New Years resolutions.

"Honest."

"Like a kiss on the cheek?" Angela asked.

Hodgins laughed, "No way, there was tongue involved."

Angela's mind raced as she thought of her best friend kissing Booth's little brother…_this was not who she was supposed to be kissing! What had happened with Brennan that made her kiss Jared? Wasn't she still mad at him for making Booth give up a case to erase his DUI?, everyone else was._

"So what do we do about this?" Hodgins asked.

"I-I'm not sure."

"We have to do something. We can't let Brennan and Bo….Seeley not end up together." Hodgins said.

"I know…"

"We've seen them dance around their attraction for five year and we can't let Jared walk in and take over a vulnerable Dr. B." Hodgins said.

The silence stretched between them for a moment.

"We can't tell Booth for one!" Angela said after a long pause between them.

"Can't tell Booth what?" Booth asked as he stood in Angela's doorway.

CHAPTER 16

"U-Um can't tell you that Hodgins and I are getting back together." Angela quickly lied.

"Nice save." Hodgins said in her ear, he was still on the phone.

"Why couldn't you tell me that?" he asked, not sure Angela was telling the truth.

"Well…you'd tell Brennan and I'm not ready for her to know yet." Angela said.

Booth frowned, "I can keep a secret, I'm an FBI agent you know."

"Yeah, but you and Brennan are practically married."

"Yeah just without the hot sex." Hodgins said in her ear.  
>"What are you talking about, practically married?"<p>

Angela rolled her eyes, "Booth it's obvious that you love her and you know everything about her."

"So that makes us married? I'm in love with her, she isn't in love with me, we aren't intimate and I know everything about her…that's marriage to you?" Booth asked.

"W-well…I mean…Everyone…" she stopped talking.

Booth raked his hand through his hair, "Where is she?"

Angela shrugged, "I don't know, she wouldn't say who she was having lunch with."

"She didn't tell you?" This surprised Booth, Brennan and Angela told each other everything.

Angela shook her head, "Not a word and believe me I tried."

Booth ran his hand over his face, "You don't think she's sick do you?" he asked.

"What? What do you know that I don't?"

"W-well she mentioned that she hadn't been sleeping."

"Really?" Angela was now mad that her best friend had been keeping a lot from her.

Booth nodded his head, "Look at her eyes, she's hiding bags big enough to fly around the world under all that make-up."

Angela frowned, it wasn't like Brennan to keep secrets from her. They were best friends and had been for a long time.

"Hodgins I've got to go." She said into the nearly forgotten phone.

"See ya…honey." He added with a laugh.

Angela rolled her eyes and hung up, "So what's new with you?" Angela asked Booth who was pacing her office.

"Hmm?" Booth asked, he hadn't heard Angela's question. He was worried about Bones, his Bones. Was she sick? What was going on inside her head?

Booth's pacing was interrupted by his phone ringing, he stopped pacing and looked down at the number and frowned slightly but opened it and spoke, "Jared."

"Seeley."  
>"When did you get back?" Booth asked.<p>

"The other day, thought I'd call my big brother and meet him for dinner."

Booth didn't want to have dinner with his brother, he wasn't in the mood, he wanted to find out what was going on with Bones.

"Tonight?" Booth asked.

"Please Seeley." Jared said.

Booth sighed, "Fine. Seven at the Founding Fathers."

"Fine with me."

"See ya." Booth said as he disconnected.

"W-who was that?" Angela asked, trying to play it cool.

"My brother." Booth said.

"He's back? When did he get back?" she asked, feigning surprise.

"The other day."

"Oh, that's nice."  
>"Yeah right, he probably needs money or something."<p>

Brennan was in her office when Angela went looking for her later that afternoon.

"There you are." Angela said.

"I've been in here for hours."

"Oh." Angela said slowly.

"So how was lunch?" she asked.

"Fine."

"Who did you eat with?" Angela blurted out.

Brennan paused for a second, "Jared."

"Jared Booth?"

"Yes."

"Oh, sweetie why?"

"Why not?"

"Um...how about the fact that he cost Booth a promotion by getting a DUI?"

"That wasn't his fault, Booth didn't have to give up the case to the State Troopers for Jared."

"Right, like Booth would ever let Jared fail." Angela said snippily.

"What's wrong Angela? Your tone suggests that your upset, but I don't know why?"

"Honey, I know that Booth cares about you."

"I know." Brennan said.

"You do?"

"Well why else would I have gone to lunch with him?"

Angela shook her head, "No not Jared Booth, Seeley Booth."

Brennan's face was pained at hearing Angela's words, she wanted to believe them, but she couldn't. All the evidence said that Booth was still in love with Rebecca and she was a woman of evidence and science not feelings and emotions like Angela was.

"He doesn't care about me…like that." Brennan said as she picked up the case file she was working on.

"Yes he does." Angela insisted.

"Angela, I'm not good at reading people like Booth or Sweets, but as a woman, I can tell that he does not find me sexually appealing."

"Did you ask him about that morning?"

Brennan knew exactly what morning she was talking about and fidgeted in her seat.

"No. I have no intention of brining it up."

"Why?"

"Be-because I don't want to get hurt." Brennan said as a tear escaped.

Booth was sitting in his office trying to focus on the serial case that was facing him, but all he could think about was Bones.

"Booth?"

Booth looked up and saw Assistant Director Hacker in front of his desk, "Hey boss, what's up?" Booth asked. _Booth was getting really tired of his bosses boss coming in and talking about Bones, didn't he have real work to do?_

"We need to talk." Hacker said.

"Okay."

"You missed your tactical refresher earlier this year due to being in the hospital with a coma, but I can't have you as an active agent without your tactical refresher."

"Sir, are you firing me?" Booth asked, not quite sure what Hacker was getting at.

"No, you're one of the best agents we have."

"Oh, thank you sir."

"No. I need you to get your tactical refresher done before the end of the month."

"But sir that's in eight days?"

"I know, there is a tactical refresher in Nashville starting tomorrow. I suggest you be there."

"What about the case sir?"

"I'll handle it while you're gone. I'll keep you on as the lead, so long as you get the training done."

Booth nodded his head, "Okay, thank you sir."

"I guess I'll see you Friday Booth."

"Yes sir. Guess I'll go home and pack and make flight arrangements."

"Good man." Hacker said.

Booth had a stop to make before going home to pack, the Jeffersonian.

CHAPTER 17

Booth knocked on Bones door and peeked in, she was sitting at her desk with her back to him, her attention on the computer screen in front of her.

"Bones?"

She turned around when he said her name and tried to smile, but it didn't reach up to her eyes.

"Hi."

"You okay?" Booth asked.

"Fine. What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that I have to go out of town."

"Where are you going?" Brennan was suddenly panicked at the thought of him leaving. He could hear the panic in her voice and was happy that she was worried, not happy that she was panicked.

He closed the door behind him and walked toward the chairs in front of her desk.

"I have to be in Nashville in the morning."

"What? Why? What's happening in Nashville on a Wednesday morning?"

Booth sighed, "I missed my tactical refresher while I was in the hospital and now I can't work if I don't get it done before the end of the month."

"When will you be back?" Brennan asked with a voice just above a whisper.

"Friday morning."

"Good, we have a date that night."

"A date?" Booth was confused, _had he agreed to escort her to a function and failed to remember it, there was no way he was going to be able to rent a tux Friday afternoon for that same day._

"Our Friday night tradition." Brennan said.

"Right." Booth said with a small smile.

"I'll miss you." Brennan said as she stood up and walked to him.

"I'll miss you more." Booth said as he looked into the blue eyes that made him weak in the knees.

Booth pulled her into a hug and was happy that she was clinging to him like a drift of wood in the ocean.

Booth kissed the top of her head and held her for a while, thinking that he would do anything to get out of the tactical refresher if it meant that he could keep Bones in his arms until Friday.

Booth pulled away slowly, "I'll see you on Friday morning when I get in."

"What time is that?"

"I'll be on the ground by noon."

"Do you want me to pick you up at the airport?" she offered, silently pleading that he would agree.

He smiled, "I would like that. I would like for you to be the first person I see when I get back."

"Really?" Brennan asked, _what did he mean?_

"Yes. I don't want to see anyone but you." He said with 100% certainty.

"Okay, so I'll be at the airport at noon on Friday."

Booth put his forehead against hers, _why was it so hard to be away from her…oh right, cause you are hopelessly and utterly in love with her._

"Bye Booth.  
>"Bye Bones." Booth said as he kissed her forehead softly.<p>

Brennan wished it had been her lips, but she wasn't able to make the move, only to have him tell her that she misinterpreted his feelings.

Booth nearly canceled on Jared but decided that he should go and see his brother, even if it meant an argument would ensue, like it always did.

"Seeley." Jared said as he gave his brother a one-arm-guy-hug.

"Jared." Booth said as he returned the awkward hug.

"How was India?"

"Amazing. I really found myself over there." Jared said with a large smile.

"What's her name?" Booth asked.

"Who?" Jared asked.

"The girl you 'found yourself for'?" Booth asked, _did Jared really want to play coy?_

Jared shook his head, "No one, I went there to find a piece of me that I didn't know I had and I found it."

Booth tried not to roll his eyes, but it was really hard not too.

"So have you seen anyone else yet?" Booth asked as he waved to a waitress.

"I saw Tempe."

"You what?" Booth nearly snapped.

"Yeah we had lunch today, what's the problem?"

"You…had lunch with my partner and didn't tell me?"  
>"She doesn't belong to <em>you<em> Seeley." Jared said with a tinge of possession in his voice.

"Oh right, she belongs to _you_?" Booth said with a tense jaw.

"No, but I am interested in her and we talked about it at lunch."

"You what?" Booth said, _did he just hear his brother say he had made a pass at Bones, his Bones?_

"We talked about the chance, possibility, what-ever you want to call it, of me and her being together."

_Booth didn't believe that he was hearing the words coming out of his brother's mouth, how was it that Jared was able to ask Bones out, but he couldn't get it together to ask her or tell her that he did care about her…a lot…way__more then Jared did._

"What did she say?" Booth found himself asking, instead of hitting Jared, which is what he really wanted to do.

"She said she had to think about it, that it was a lot for her."

_Booth didn't reply to his brothers words, instead he replayed what had happened in Brennan's office not twenty minutes ago, she had clung to him when she knew he was leaving, she had said she would miss him and she wanted to pick him up, those were good things in Booth's mind, so why did it bother him so much to think that Bones and Jared could be together…oh right because you are in love with a woman who has no idea you love her and you have no one to blame but yourself!_

Booth dropped the subject of Bones and the brothers managed to talk about sports and India for the rest of the night and there was no fight. But Booth wanted to rip his little brother to pieces for even looking at Bones, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was mostly his fault. If he had told Brennan how he felt, this wouldn't be happening. Bones was a very beautiful woman, educated, brilliant, world-renowned author and a genius in her field. Booth would be lying to himself if he really thought that other men wouldn't try to vie for her attention. He had to man up and tell her, before he lost her for good. Not shockingly Seeley got stuck with the check.

CHAPTER 18

Brennan sat on her couch in her office wiping the tears out of her eyes with a tissue.

_Why was he leaving her now? Didn't he know that she needed him here? Didn't he know that she hadn't been able to sleep because he wasn't there?_

Brennan sighed and got up off the couch and grabbed her purse and coat and walked to the garage and retrieved her Mercedes-Benz that her publisher had given her. She drove home on auto-pilot and was surprised that her key didn't give her trouble. She went in and locked the door behind her and stripped off her clothes as she walked into her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed and sighed, it was going to be a long sleepless night.

Brennan's phone rang around five am on Wednesday morning and she looked over at it and saw it was Andrew. She almost didn't answer it, but decided it might be case-related and answered it.  
>"Hello?"<p>

"Tempe, sorry to wake you but we have another body."

"Already?" she said.

"Yeah. Want me to come get you?" he offered.

Andrew really just wanted a chance to see her in the morning when she woke up, he knew she would be spectacular.

"No, I'll meet you there, what's the address?"

After writing it down, she went into the bathroom and began to slap on make-up to cover her ever darkening bags around her eyes.

She drove to the scene and was surprised that Hodgins and Cam where there as well, she normally went into the field alone. She was secretly glad they were there in case she missed anything because she was so tired.

She walked over to her co-workers who looked like they had enjoyed some sleep before being dragged out of bed at the butt crack of dawn.

"Hi Bones." Andrew said with a smile as he came toward the group.

"What did you just call her?" Cam asked, not attempting to hide her tone of disgust.

"Bones. That's her nickname, right?" Andrew said, confused at Cam's attitude.

"No, that's _Booth's_ nickname for her. You don't get to call her that." Hodgins added.

"You can address her as Dr. Brennan or Temperance." Cam said with a note of finality in her voice.

Andrew just looked embarrassed and walked away without so much as a look behind him.

Brennan was so tired that she hadn't even registered what had been going on.

"Where is the body?" she asked.

"This way Dr. B." Hodgins said as he took her arm and guided her toward the body.

Hodgins and Cam both noticed that she was exhausted and knew that she must be wrestling with big demons if she wasn't able to sleep. Brennan was able to compartmentalize anything, so the fact that something was keeping her up was a _huge_ concern for them.

After seeing that the body was exactly like the others, they had it transported to the Jeffersonian and Hodgins offered to drive Brennan to the office, neither he nor Cam wanted to be the one to tell Booth they let her drive when she was so tired, especially if she crashed into a parked car or something.

"You okay Dr. B?" Hodgins asked as he drove.

"No." Brennan said with honesty that she hadn't expected to say.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"If you can get me to sleep, I'll give you a million dollars." She said with sincerity.

Hodgins smiled, "I don't need the money, but if I had a magic cure, I'd give it to you."

"Thanks Hodgins."

"How long has it been?" He asked.

Brennan tried to think but it was hazy, "Friday night was the last night I slept."

Hodgins' eyes went wide, "Dr. B that's over 100 hours!"

"Yeah, I know." She said as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

Hodgins knew that he was going to have to tell Booth that she hadn't slept since Friday. If he didn't and Booth found out…well lets just say that Hodgins would regret that decision for as long as Booth let him live.

As soon as he got Brennan into her office he went into Angela's office and closed the door and pulled out his cell phone. He punched in a number that he knew like the back of his hand from years of friendship.

"You've reached Seeley Booth, leave a message."

Hodgins sighed, "Booth its Hodgins, call me!"

He hung up and went out toward the platform where Daisy and Brennan were standing over the remains.

Cam pulled him aside before he reached the platform, "Did you call him?"

"Voicemail."

"How long has it been?"

"Since Friday night, well over 100 hours."

Cam's eyes went wide, "Really?"

Hodgins nodded his head sadly, "Yeah."

Cam sighed, "He is going to flip when he finds out that she hasn't slept in that long."

"Is there anything we can do medically?" Hodgins asked.

"Not unless we drug her and make her sleep."

"That might be our only option." Hodgins said as he watched his closest colleague and oldest friend yawn and nearly stumble.

"She's really sensitive to any kind of drug." Cam said out-loud.

CHAPTER 19

Brennan had been talked into going home by Cam, Angela and Hodgins and as much as she didn't want to go home, she wasn't able to work in her condition. As soon as she got home, she began looking online for ways to get to sleep. After spending three hours trying yoga poses, hot tea, warm milk, exercise and a warm bath, there was only one other option and she was ashamed to do it, but she was so tired she didn't have a choice.

Around 4pm she woke up and was happy that she had slept since 8am after she had been sent home. She got up and showered and worked on a couple chapters in her new book. She suddenly remembered that she was supposed to have a date with Jared tonight and almost canceled on him, but decided that she needed to have fun and not mope over the fact that Booth was in love with Rebecca instead of her.

Brennan dressed in a lilac colored dress that brought out the blue in her eyes and made her hair shine. She met Jared at the restaurant and was surprised when he gave her a bouquet of daffodils (her favorite).

"Thank you Jared, how did you know?"

He laughed, "I keep telling you that you are the worst kept secret. I know a lot about you."

She smiled and was sure that he didn't know everything about her, only Booth did.

"So what's good here?" she asked.

"Everything, I like the lamb, I think you would love it."

"I don't eat red meat." She said.

"Oh, well the fish is good…or the grilled tofu."

Brennan realized that Jared didn't know _anything_ about her, at least not things that mattered. He didn't know that she didn't eat meat, or that she liked raisinettes, or that she liked a lot of salt on her popcorn, or that her favorite music group was the Bangles, or that she had been a foster kid.

The only man who _knew _her was Seeley Booth and she was in love with him, no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she was in love with him.

_Now that she said it in her mind, she had no idea of what to do about it? Did he even find her attractive? Could there be anything more than a friendship and partnership with them?_

She managed to get through the date without getting up and walking away from Jared, but she couldn't stop thinking about Seeley. Every time Jared said some joke that she didn't fully understand, she thought of how Booth would tell it so it made sense to her, how he would tell her after a hard case that she was good at the head and he was good the at the heart and together they couldn't go wrong.

Booth had been having a rough day to put it mildly, he had not slept at all, his car rental had been messed up and he was driving a Kia instead of the Tahoe he had asked for and his luggage had been lost.

He sighed as he drove the tiny car toward the tactical training center, he realized that he hadn't turned his phone on since landing and pulled it out of his pocket and was surprised that he had a message from Hodgins.

He hit redial and hoped that nothing had happened to Bones. If something had happened while he was gone, Hacker was going to pay.

"Hodgins?"

"Booth! I'm glad you called me."

"What's up?"  
>Hodgins was silent for a second, "Can you talk or are you driving?"<p>

"I always talk and drive…what's wrong?" he demanded.

"It's Dr. B." Hodgins finally said.  
>"What! What happened? I'm turning around…" Booth said.<p>

"She's okay…just not great." Hodgins quickly amended.

"What does that mean? I don't have three degrees like you do."

"Booth she hasn't slept in over 100 hours."

"What! Why the hell not?" he yelled.

"How the hell should I know?" Hodgins said.

"Is she at work?"

"No, Cam and I talked her into going home and trying to sleep. She said she hasn't been able to sleep since Friday night."

"Really?" Booth asked. Friday night was the last night of sleep he had gotten as well, but he hadn't put it together that Brennan was having the same problem.

"Is she going to go to the doctor?" Booth asked.

"Yeah, have you ever tried to get her to do something she didn't want to do?" Hodgins asked with a smile.

Booth laughed, "Yeah she can be really stubborn."

"Stubborn is the nice way of putting it."

"What are we gonna do?" Booth asked.

"Just keep an eye on her and hope she sleeps, she was going to research ways to get herself to sleep when she left."

Booth promised to check in as often as he could and Hodgins promised to tell him if anything changed good or bad.

Booth pulled his white Kia into a parking spot that was flanked by identical black SUV's on both sides. He got out and looked around; his car was _so_ out of place. It looked like a little white rabbit surrounded by large black dogs waiting to rip it apart.

He grabbed his bag and went inside, for once he didn't care. He wanted to get this over with so he could get home to Brennan and tell her how he felt about her once and for all before he lost her to his boss or worse, to his brother.

Deep down he knew that Brennan wouldn't be able to sleep until she was in his arms, but there was no way he was going to tell Hodgins or Angela that, he cared about his friends, but when it came to Bones, he was very private and overprotective.

CHAPTER 20

After a disastrous date with Jared, she went home. She had a hard time with the door and was so upset that she actually burst into tears in the hallway. _Why am I crying? This is stupid, it's just a door that won't open._ She told herself.

She took a deep breath and tried the door again and it opened smoothly. She smiled and entered her apartment, locking the door behind her. She poured herself a glass of wine and saw that she had a message so she played it.

_'__Bones, its Booth. Just wanted to let you know that I got here alright and I'm fine. I hope your feeling better…um I hope you are able to sleep better tonight. I miss you and I'll see you on Friday.'_

_Brennan felt her eyes well-up at the message and wondered what the hell was wrong with herself. She was crying at doors not opening and silly messages left by her partner. It had to be the sleep depravation she decided_.

She debated calling Booth or not and decided that she should. She really wanted to hear his voice, even if it wasn't the same as having him hold her while she slept. She changed into her sleep attire, made a pit stop to the bathroom for the only thing that made her sleep and climbed up onto her bed and pulled out her cell phone and hit her speed dial.

"Booth."

"Hi." Brennan said softly.

"Hi Bones." Booth said as a smile lit up his face.

"Is this a bad time to call you?"

Booth shook his head, "No, its fine. I was just driving back from having dinner with an old army friend."

"That's nice."

"So…how are you?" Booth asked.

She sighed, "I…I'm okay." She lied.

Booth knew that she wasn't and wanted so desperately to hold her and make her tell him what was wrong, but she was in Washington DC and he was in Nashville.

"Bones." He said softly, hoping it would make her talk.

Bones smiled, this man knew her better then anyone else ever could.

"I'm just not sleeping…still." She admitted in a small voice.

Booth didn't like to hear that she was in pain and being far away only made it worse for him.

"I'm sorry Bones, I wish I was there."

"I do too." She admitted.

Booth felt a tinge in his heart and smiled, "What do you want me to do?"

She almost didn't ask, but she was _so_ tired, "Will you stay on the phone with me while I try to sleep?"

"Of course."

She felt it kicking in and reality started fading away and she was left in a dream state.

The next morning came quickly and Brennan went to her office as soon as she was awake, which was an un-godly 4:30 am. She had to make two difficult phone calls and she wanted privacy, but it was still too early, so she caught up on backlogged paperwork while she waited for the sun to come up and for it to be a 'decent' hour to call and break-up with someone.

Around 9 am she called the Hoover building and was put directly to Andrew since his receptionist was sure that they were an item. Brennan took a deep breath as she began telling Andrew just how she felt…or rather how she didn't feel about him.

He had taken it well and hoped they could be friends and asked that it not affect the FBI/Jeffersonian relationship and she agreed. Having her team work with the FBI had nearly tripled the FBI's rate of success on solving murders. He would be a total fool to 'banish' her from working with the FBI.

Jared hadn't taken it as well, but she knew that he really only want her because she was so close to Seeley and that he had to have her so that Seeley couldn't. She had never put stock in psychology, but she did believe that a beta-male like Jared would try to steal a mate-able female from the alpha-male (Seeley) to get back at him for earlier tormenting. Brennan knew deep down that Jared didn't love her, he wanted her so Seeley couldn't have her, anthropologically speaking.

She spent the rest of the day working on the serial case. All five woman had been raped, tortured and set on fire. Hodgins had figured out that the accelerant was a common household grade paint thinner, the rope was available at any hardware store, the only thing that was unique was the tool he used to torture them, he still hadn't been able to identify it, but he was working on it.

Thursday night she talked to Booth who told her that he was wrong about the time his flight got in, it wasn't supposed to land until 4pm. She sighed and had told him she would be there waiting for him and he had been very happy to hear that.

Brennan was worried that she wouldn't have anything to do in the airport to keep her busy. She had gotten their early and had tried to use her FBI card to get past security to wait at the gate, but they had said since she was only a consultant, she had to wait by the baggage claim with everyone else. She had been thinking of what Booth told her about 'the one' for the last day and it was starting to make sense to her and it made her feel like there were million of bouncy ping-pong balls in her stomach, which was a feeling she didn't understand.

She stood at the end of a long hallway in the airport, the hallway was like a cattle chute that herded all the cattle to their luggage. She kept looking for him and hoping to see him. She had seen a few tall men, but none were Seeley, their body size was too slight.

She felt very anxious and scared, _what was she doing? Booth was in love with Rebecca? Why are you doing this to yourself…because I'm addicted to Seeley Booth and I need him in my life. _

The damn ping-pong ball feeling in her stomach was getting to be too much, she panicked when she finally saw him, he was scanning the crowd looking, looking for her.

Her eyes locked on to his and suddenly she did what she did best, she ran.

CHAPTER 21

Brennan ran, she ran past people giving her strange looks. _What kind of grown woman runs in the airport?_

She didn't care what anyone thought of her at this moment, she had to get to the only place she felt safe, the only place she knew would always be there, home.

She launched herself into his arms, not caring if he fell onto the floor or not. He caught her with ease and smiled a smile that would have lit up Time Square. His bag on the floor, forgotten, he held her to him and thanked every Saint he had ever prayed to. _Brennan was home, in Booth's arms, where she belonged._

She kissed him and felt every single person in the airport fade away as their lips crushed against each other, their tongues slipped and slid around each other.

"You are never allowed to leave me again Seeley Booth." Brennan said as she looked into his eyes.

"I don't plan on ever leaving you baby." Booth said as he kissed her again.

"Promise?" she asked.

He touched her cheek with his fingers, "I promise."

They made their way to the baggage claim and got his bag, she handed him the keys to her Mercedes without saying anything.

"You're going to let me drive your car?" he asked as they walked toward the parking structure.

"You always say what a good driver you are."

"But you never let anyone drive that car." He said, still shocked.

She stopped and he stopped, she looked into his eyes, "You aren't just 'anyone' Booth."

He kissed her softly and smiled, "Where do you want to go?"

"Home."

He got in the $90,000 car and drove it like it was a NASCAR practice car, weaving in and out of traffic, horns blowing, people flipping him the bird and shaking their fists at him.

Booth was grinning like a little kid when he pulled up to her building.

"I could get used to a car like this." He said as they went into the building.

"Really?"

"Sure Bones, it's the best sports car around." He said with an excited voice.

Brennan shrugged, it was just a car to her, she had no comprehension for brand names or engine statistics, she liked the color and it went fast, that's all she really cared about.

They got to her door and Booth opened it, letting Brennan in first. The apartment was dark and she flipped on the light and stopped dead in her tracks.

Booth sensed something was wrong and came into the living room, which was full of vases of daffodils.

"Andrew?" Booth asked, trying not to seem jealous.

Brennan shook her head, words still not able to come out.

"Jared?" Booth asked, again trying hard to keep his jealousy at bay.

"You are the only person who has a key." Brennan finally said as her blue eyes met Booth's.

"You mean these weren't delivered?" his voice was getting scarier as he spoke.

Brennan shook her head and found her way to Booth, he pulled her into a hug. She felt his body tense up and knew that he was processing this whole thing.

He took his spare gun from his ankle and handed it to Brennan, "Don't move from this spot." He said as he took his sidearm out and began looking through the apartment slowly.

After making sure there was no one in the house Booth turned back to Brennan, "Pack a bag."

"Where are we going?" Brennan asked.

"My place." He said as he pulled out his phone and dialed Charlie, his junior agent.

After Charlie promised to come over and process the scene himself, Booth took Brennan's hand and led her out of the apartment. Her hands were trembling slightly, so Booth pulled her into a hug and kissed her softly.

They got to Booth's apartment quickly and Booth made sure the house was secure before he let Brennan in. he locked the door and Brennan sat on the couch, still not quite able to understand the magnitude of the situation.

Booth ordered food and she was happy to distract herself with food, she was also unaware how hungry she was until she started eating. She took a shower in Booth bathroom, changing into a pair of black shorts and a white tank top. Booth had showered in Parker's bathroom and was wearing a pair of basketball shorts and an FBI t-shirt. Brennan crawled into his lap and put her legs out, so she was cradled against the arm of the couch and Booth.

Booth held her, his hand on her side, his other hand on her soft legs. He held her to him until she spoke, "How was Nashville?"

He smiled, "It was good, but I missed you."

"I missed you too." Brennan said as she kissed him softly.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Booth asked.

"No, I'm tired and I really need to get some sleep."

Booth frowned, "I thought you got some sleep the other night?"

Brennan realized she had to tell Booth _how_ she had been able to sleep, even if it was embarrassing, un-safe and stupid.

"What?" Booth asked, reading her expression.

"Itookcoldmedicinetomakemyselfsleep." She said as she refused to meet his eyes.

"What?" he hadn't been able to decipher what she said.

She took a shaky breath, "I took cold medicine to make myself sleep."

Booth looked into her cerulean blue eyes, "Why?"

She felt tears forming, "I was _so_ tired. I hadn't slept since Friday night and I was miserable. I'm sorry." She said.

Booth pulled her tighter against him, "Promise me you won't ever do that again."

She sniffed and he wiped a tear, "I promise."

"Let's go to bed." He said as he got up from the couch, with her in his arms, her weight seeming to not bother him more then Parker's would.

He carried her into his room and put her on the bed, pulled the covers up around her and got in on the other side. He pulled her to him and kissed the back of her neck.  
>"Good night Booth." She said.<p>

"G'night baby." He said.

She woke up around 2am and found herself safe in his arms, suddenly she had to know, was he the one or not.

"Booth?" she said softly.

"Wah?' he mumbled, waking up.

"How do you feel about me?" Brennan asked.

Booth realized that she was putting herself on the line and if he didn't tell her the truth now, he would lose her forever. This was it, he had to tell her.

_Breathe Seeley breathe._

Booth took a deep breath, the full moon was supplying all the light he needed, Brennan's body was bathed in a soft sliver light and it made him almost speechless.

"You are my partner and my best friend." He stared. He saw the fear in her eyes when he said those words, but he kept going.

"But I think we are more then that. I think that you and I have become a couple without even realizing it, I find you very attractive and sexually alluring. I can barely contain myself when I'm near you or when I touch you."

Brennan just looked into his eyes, not knowing what to say, but Booth wasn't done yet.

"I love you Bones and I know that you probably don't love me yet, but I know that feelings grow and that someday you will. I promise to be here for you whenever you need me and I promise to love you for the rest of my life."

Booth held his breath after pouring out his heart. Saying a prayer hoping he didn't mess it up.

When she smiled at him, his heart soared, he hadn't said anything wrong.

"Can we take it slow?"

"Of course baby." Booth said as he slid his hands against her smooth back, kissing her mouth with a passion she had never felt.

Her lips burned, her mouth tingled and she loved the sensation, this was something she could never get tired of.

"I love you Temperance Brennan and I always will." Booth said with a smile. She wasn't ready to say anything back to him yet, so she hugged him and kissed his chest.

Tomorrow they would figure out who was killing these poor girls, but tonight she was going to fall asleep in the arms of the man who loved her.

_He loves me!_

_He is The One for me!_

_THE END_


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